Greed, Greed, Greed

“Greed is Good” according to Gordon Gecko. It seems some people are still living with this mantra. Here’s an example of something I hate. Change your listing by a stupid amount so that it remains on the “hotsheets” or e-mailing lists. WTF? Are people that stupid?
Here’s an example of what are you thinking?
This place only was listed three days ago. In the delusional land of Newport Beach where legend has it that parties thrown by Dennis Rodman can exceed most people’s mortgages a month this guy will be throwing a party if he could find a sucker for this place.
For a “close” to $1.5 million you can have this one in Newport Heights
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Newport-Beach/501-Tustin-Ave-92663/home/3242013
Now don’t get me wrong, the place looks nice but if you think you can get close to a million profit from the $541,000 you paid in 1999 then good luck.
What ticks me off is that it showed up as a price change today from it’s original list price of $1,499,999 to $1,499,998. That’s right…one Frickin dollar change. What an a***hole realtor and greedy owner.
I have now figured out what we should all do for listings like this. Submit an offer!! Not the normal low-ball offer but one where you sneakily move the decimal. So instead of $1,499,999 submit an offer for $149,999.99. If you do this often enough you might find a stupid and greedy person that might accept it. After all, how do you think people get scammed from Nigeria for thousands of dollars? Greed and stupidity. A deadly combination to say the least.
They might be so excited that they think they got an offer for “full price” that they will fax over that acceptance reply right away. Then when they realize it’s not right you can sue for breach of contract. That should float some of that greedy equity out of them.

Here’s another delusional kool-aid sipping Coke-A-Mesta head that thinks his place is worth over a million:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Costa-Mesa/1789-Capetown-Cir-92627/home/4583934
While this one didn’t drop his place by a stupid dollar like above he is still in la-la land. Check out his own personal golf course in the backyard. This complex sold an exact model like this recently for $650k. That’s right, half of what he is asking. Does he think the sunset that you can see from over a mile away counts for ocean front?

Not to mention that there are plans eventually to build Banning Ranch with 1,375 homes and shops in development in the park area which is his view. Now what will that do the view?
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/development-one-newport-2138154-ranch-banning

Since he is asking 1,249,000 I think we should submit offers like this for $124,999 or $124,900. At least it will waste the realtor’s time since if they do see the decimal in the wrong place they may actually call you to see if was accidently placed wrong. Good for a laugh at least.

Condo conversions-reversions

Conversions to reversions. A bad investment. UGH!
One thing that worked during the housing boom was owners of apartment buildings turning them over to condominiums. Can’t say I blame them. Huge profits, don’t have to deal with tenants. Except some of them came late to that game.
Maybe they should have read an article like this one first describing the downturn in condo conversions. True it’s in Florida but the same thing happened here too:
http://www.floridahomeloan.com/2006/08/condo-conversions-reverting-back-to.html/
Here’s an excerpt:
Condo conversions nationwide peaked in September 2005 and by June of this year levels had fallen back to those last seen in early 2004, before the bulk of the conversions happened. Nearly 28,000 units costing more than $4 billion were converted in September, while only 3,354 units were converted in June at a total of $449.4 million, according to Real Capital Analytics.
From an article in the Grunion Gazette which is in Long Beach:
http://www.gazettes.com/condoboom07262007.html “In 2006, 1,073 apartments were approved to be converted into condominiums in 78 different buildings, and since 2004 more than 2,000 condo conversions have been approved. This year owners have sought conversions of just 350 units in 18 buildings, although half of the unit total comes from one building (110 W. Sixth St., near Pine Avenue)”. Yikes! With those type of numbers, trying to convert to condos right now is just utterly foolhardy. Fifty-six percent of LB’s 173,000 housing units are rentals. That’s a lot of people who just cannot afford the high prices on their wages. Prices are still going to have to drop to come back to affordability.
Here are a couple of examples in Long Beach:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Long-Beach/1200-Ohio-90804/unit-4/home/12111632
This building has eight units. I can find 5 of them still listed after 95 days. Take your pick. Unit 1, 4, 6, 7, and 8. I’m not sure if the other three have sold since I didn’t find any info on those. Since the pictures are all the same for each one I’ll spare you the redundancy other than to say that who is going to jump into this knowing that their neighbors will be paying less when they get desperate to unload these? Throw in a $225.00 HOA fine with no amenities that I can see and you got a recipe for disaster.
I’ve read in some places that the owners “have re-converted” buildings back into apartment rentals after extremely poor sales. That doesn’t bode well for the poor sap that buys then finds a few months later it’s being converted back. I’m not sure what their legal options are at that point but I know it wouldn’t be fun going through that.
A question posted on Trulia asked If a condo conversion reverts back to rentals does it hurt my value?
Here is the reply posted by a realtor in Baltimore that I believe is right on:
The problem you may run into is that when you try to sell it, the buyer may have a hard time getting financing. Condo projects are either considered insurable or uninsurable by fannie mae. This makes a difference because Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac are the largest purchasers of loans on the secondary mortgage market and without their blessing, it can be difficult to find an entity to purchase the loan. Especially with the recent changes in mortgage guidelines, it will be more difficult to get financing for an uninsurable condo. Projects that are less than 50% owner occupied are considered uninsurable. You can check with the property management company as to whether or not the property is Fannie Mae insurable, they should be able to tell you. It is certainly possible to get financing on an uninsured condo, but your buyer has to be in excellent financial shape, and could be required to put more down than usual, so you might end up with a smaller pool of potential buyers. All of that could certainly hurt property values some.

It’s not that the units here in Long Beach look bad. Though describing the neighborhood as the Eastside or Circle Area is a stretch. This is the center of Long Beach where it gets to be a much more densely populated area. I would put Redondo Ave, as the furthest to go over and still label it “Eastside” but even that could be argued is a stretch. Here’s a better map of what is considered the Eastside:
http://www.lovelylongbeachhomes.com/map_areas_long_beach.shtml#EastsideCircle
The problem for these building owners now is to recoup their investment for remodeling these units. If they go back to renting them out they’ll probably be trashed over time and when or if this market recovers so it’s viable to sell them they will have to sink some more cash into remodeling again. Can you say fire sale?
Here’s another example:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Long-Beach/1200-Ohio-90804/unit-4/home/12111632
Example #2: 3440 E. Ransom St, Eight units all listed in a row, all have been listed for over 190 days now as of this listing. Throw in a $237 homeowners fine and you can see why people in this neighborhood are renting instead of buying. I love the street name- “Ransom” That sure in heck doesn’t help. Conjures up pictures of Nigerian scammers and others asking you to fork over your hard earned money. Oh wait, that would be the realtor. Again, while these units are closer to the famed traffic circle area of LB this still isn’t Eastside to me. Another central high-density area of LB changed over in a Johnny come lately to the party attempt in cashing in on the housing boom.
The pictures look nice but there are no amenities and it’s in a neighborhood I wouldn’t be jumping on anytime soon.
So far sales have been one big goose egg after half a year. What does that tell you? Guess everyone else agrees.
Need another example?:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Long-Beach/2925-E-Spaulding-St-90804/unit-204/home/12290785
These units are on 2925 Spaulding Ave. There are currently as of this posting 12 of these units for sale with different sizes and prices. They’ve been listed almost 180 days. That’s right folks. A half a year of no sales. The surprising point is that there have been no reductions either in an attempt to move these. Another building with a $207 HOA fine with no amenities. At least if I’m going to pay that give me a pool. This realtor was too lazy to put descriptions on most of the listings. On a one bedroom that is overpriced at 424 sq. ft. In fact in this description they put possible 2% back at closing. What do you mean possible? Either it is or it isn’t. I don’t know about you but give me a lower price over the 2% back as it will mean a lower tax base on the property every year. More savings in the long run.

Maybe buyers or investors are scared of what happened in Huntington Beach with the illegal condo conversions that involved an ex-mayor:
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/article_726105.php

These are just three conversions that were in denial about the housing market or drinking too much of that kool-aid spun out from people like Lawrence Yun of the NAR. Either way here’s another article from San Diego that showed conversions were a bad idea even two years ago:
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2006/07/24/housing/974conversions.txt

On top of this we have luxury condo projects downtown not selling with some of them having exorbitant HOA fines of $700 or more. One place is trying to “auction” their units off. Nothing more than a euphemism for unloading these money pits as fast as possible. I guess that’ll be a subject for another day. Stay away from these condo conversions in LB or anywhere right now. If you’ve got money to burn give it away to a good cause.

Knucklehead of the Week! Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals

I sometimes wonder what goes through people's heads. Who is worse, the realtor or the seller here?
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Long-Beach/2841-E-64th-St-90805/home/7509697

Are realtors that desperate, (yep), that they will post pictures like this and expect the unit to sell? Congratulations you get the gold medal for this week's worst attempt to sell a unit

First of all this 2 bed/1 ba cramped hell hole is located in one of LB's more desirable neighborHOODS- 2841 E 64th St. , just a stone's throw away from Paramount and even better Compton. I once got a summons for jury duty in Compton. I threw it away figuring there were more people for outstanding warrants than for outstanding no-shows for jury duty.

Neighborhood aside, let's look at the realtor's description: "This is a great starter home or great for investor. The tenant is out and property is cleaned up, come see for yourself." Really?? Then why don't you get your lazy realtor a** over there and take some decent pictures?All that's missing is the trash bins in that extra storage area in the back you show kindly showed us.

Again are realtors that desperate to take this kind of listing? At least have the person clean it up before posting it. The realtor needs to take charge and say "Lakeesha it's time to clean your room" And don't come out until it's clean. Check out the food that's on the tray in a plastic bag on the bottom right. Wonder if that's still there?

Now these people if they didn't take out some greenbacks in refinancing have some equity in this place. Based on only the $586 they pay in property taxes they should have some money left over to hire a cleaning service at least. It doesn't get any better in the living room:

Do the extra fans come with this place? Because it's hot as hell when you get north of the 405.

I love this line from the realtor: Has a huge lot for room to add on or for that pool you've always wanted. Like that will happen in a million years. Someone buying this small dump built in 1948 has dinero left over for a pool? Our rookie realtor continues: "Hardwood floors throughout and new vanity and faucet in bath. Lots of possibilites here."Are those hardwood floors in the living room? No, really are they? Because I can't tell. It looks like the living room used some of that left over linoleum from the kitchen.

With the median wage earner in this neighborhood earning as much as the local drifter in my neighborhood that collects cans they'd have to put down $53,000. Figuring payments, taxes. and insurance you're looking at approximately $1,750/mo. Too much for even an investor to bail these people out on a 60 yr. old building. I assume this realtor has another job because she isn't going to be selling many homes with listings like this.

Update: I just finished posting this when I came across this picture:http://www.redfin.com/CA/Long-Beach/232-E-Louise-St-90805/home/7514689

Too funny. Nothing says buy my house more than throwing in a couple of extra couches and a recycle bin. Again, another realtor so desperate for a listing that she couldn't wait a couple of days after trash day. If this was an Olympic event than you get the silver for "stupid realtor pictures". Congratulations.

Not to leave the Huntington area out of the mix. This one is in Fountain Valley actually. The listing agent describes this as built in barbecue. Looks more like a rejected toaster oven taken out of the trash bin. Too you Fountain Valley we give the bronze medal for an overpriced 70's disco era house with some bad kitchen linoleum and other accessories. But this is not a barbecue for summer outdoor eating.

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Fountain-Valley/18916-Mount-Walton-Cir-92708/home/3826083

Here's the latest numbers from Data Quick for all of the O. C. Remember when the real estate pundits were saying how we hit the bottom when July's foreclosures dipped in comparison to May? Umm..not quite. And August's numbers don't look much better on the horizon. We are over 10 times the Foreclosure rate of 2006 with 5 months still to be tallied. Yikes!

Year 2008 2007 2006

Month Defaults Forec. Defaults Forec. Defaults Forec.
January 2,352 802 847 153 384 25
February 2254 732 811 164 316 14
March 2476 698 986 204 407 28
April 2598 898 855 234 374 22
May 2468 1131 1021 276 444 37
June 2282 1056 1108 311 462 13
July 2320 1351 1167 367 440 44
August 1476 469 498 59
September 1239 444 588 78
October 1448 530 599 104
November 933 364 665 102
December 1895 644 688 121
Total 16,750 6,668 13,786 4,160 5,865 647

One for the ROAD!

Sometimes you just got to laugh. This was posted recently on Google Street map, though it's been since taken down. Seems this Aussie passed out next to his Mum's house when the cameras were rolling. Oops. I guess they should just be glad that they weren't having an open house for their property that day. Here's the full story:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/editors-choice/2008/08/12/drunk-australian-s-kerbside-nap-caught-on-google-earth-86908-20693777/

Pompano Ranch and my Gold Gucci watch bet

On July 22nd I wrote about the Gold Gucci watch bet with my wife:
http://hbrealestateandmore.blogspot.com/2008/07/gold-gucci-watch-bet.html
Sad to say she won this one.
Let me summarize. We saw a place in HB that I said would not get an offer in 30 days and she said it would.

I thought I was in the clear until they got an offer around 25 days after listing. Here is the property:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/7402-Coho-Dr-92648/unit-111/home/5556829 (love that linoleum floor and 1980 stove)

This is the Pacific Ranch community of HB. Nice community built in the mid to late 80’s. Most of the units are tri-levels, which doesn’t appeal to everyone. Prices here have been dropping almost as fast as world records when Michael Phelps swims.

Just over a year ago a 2000 sq. ft. model sold for $712,000:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/7371-Seabluff-Dr-92648/unit-111/home/5556882
Need another example? Here’s one that in April of last year went for $719,500
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/19521-Pompano-Ln-92648/unit-109/home/5559287
The models can differ a bit. They all have a downstairs “bonus room” that can have a bathroom added if one wants. (Most don’t since they already have 2 ½ baths). But they all have right around 2,000 sq. ft.
Fast forward 9/27/07- same model- down to $640,000
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/19512-Pompano-Ln-92648/unit-111/home/5561139
By Dec of last year that price is dropped down to $625,000
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/19481-Pompano-Ln-92648/unit-103/home/5559311
These are not short sales that I can see either. Just people that have equity and want to sell before the bottom drops out further.
Well, the bottom is still dropping:
In Feb. one closed under what was inevitable: under $600k. This one for $599k
This looked like a short sale but it wasn’t. The owners might have taken a little hit on this one. They were moving up north for a job change and had to get out quickly. They started their listing at $675k and dropped.
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/19451-Pompano-Ln-92648/unit-108/home/5559377
One more under $600k a few months later in the “peak selling summer season” and then:
This one started at around $620 and endured a few drops before settling at $560k
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/19561-Pompano-Ln-92648/unit-105/home/5559822
There’s another listing that was at $580k and probably sold close to full price, as this home was immaculate.

So why did I take this bet with my wife? Well the property was priced right based on recent comps. The inside was terrible though. Linoleum kitchen floor. No window coverings. Quick industrial carpet slapped down, kitchen appliances that came from probably Gemco (for those of you that remember that defunct store in the 80’s). I’ve visited probably most of these units in the last year and the serious sellers have at least put in wood (or laminate) floors, plantation shutters and made some attempts at upgrading. Though most have a ways to go with their kitchens. This one has quite a bit of work and I figured even at $565k it was a bit overpriced and still had to come down.
I don’t know what the final accepted offer was but it will set a new comp low for these models. From $712,000 to under $ 560,000 represents over a 21% drop in this community in just 15 months. And these were not short sales!! Now what about those with Alt-A, option loans and the pressure these loans will put on the market?
I predict these 2,000 sq. ft. homes in Pacific Ranch will eventually approach under $500k. Probably by the second half of next year.
My only mistake with the bet with my wife is that I should have said it had to close, not just get an offer. Oh well ..shoot ..Now I got to go shopping.

I was already to post this late last evening when I decided to go to bed and wait until today. I’m glad I did. After perusing the listings I saw something more I need to add about Pacific Ranch.
This idiot in self-denial:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/7402-Coho-Dr-92648/unit-105/home/5556811
A little info about this listing which is trying to sell at $639k when they haven’t had one sell above $600 in quite some time now. In fact the last 5 comparable comps are all under $600k (two of them still waiting to close).Wake up pal! This realtard actually posted it originally for $649k and after around 88 days on the market took it off for what was probably no more than an hour and put it up as a new listing. Don’t you just love that? I actually called them when they first listed it since I was interested in seeing it and then waiting to see if it would drop after that. The original listing agent is from this same group, HOM Real Estate Group. What does HOM stand for anyway? They couldn’t spell Home? Or maybe an acronym for Happily Orchestrating Manipulators as that’s what this group seems to do.
When I called the original agent, Sue Saffarans, she was more than happy to show it to me. A few minutes later her assistant, this lap dog Chad called to say she was busy but he could show it to me. He was more than happy until I mentioned I was working with Redfin. Then the a**hole turned arrogant. He said if I’m working with them it’s not worth my time showing it to you. Excuse me? I tried to constrain myself and explained that he would still get his 3% commission. He again repeated it’s not worth his time.
What an arrogant S.O.B. Not worth around $18G they would pull in from the listing? Or maybe the fact that when the listing was under Sue’s name it said that she was the owner/related in the listing. Hmmm..H.O.M.- Happily Orchestrating Manipulators.
Another realtor that wanted to play both sides of the fence. Do they think all buyers are that stupid that we won’t recognize they won’t be representing my best interests? Sheesh.
I was really shocked when the status changed to backup offers. How could someone give them an offer when all around them were better priced listings? Well today that changed back to active. Perhaps the buyers realized they were getting taken or the bank came back with an appraisal that was oh..Let’s say about 80G’s less then what they want. Whatever the reason, I hope this one goes back to the bank; realtors like this deserve to get it stuck to them.

I was on bankrate.com today and saw this ad:

I'm guessing they were paid up well in advance..don't think there are too many takers for this offer though.

Bad Bad Investment

I’ve been relaxing lately watching some of the Olympics like probably many of you. Had an interesting conversation with this guy that recently bought a one bedroom/one bath in LB for $405/sq. ft. A little pricey for Long Beach for this particular property. For privacy sake I won’t disclose the exact property.
He had just gotten done fixing the property up for a rental and we struck up a conversation. I asked him did he think he overpaid for this property. His reply was that in 5 or 10 years the value will go up and plus it’s a great write-off.
I didn’t want to burst his bubble but I had to shake my head. He seemed like an okay guy and I hope he has the money to cover the amount that he’s bleeding every month but I had to wonder.
I know this building well and the rental on this property is about $1100 average though he said he was renting it to a friend for around $1,000. His payments per a month are $1700. Whoa Nelly! He told me his real estate broker did a great job and now he has a “real estate portfolio”. Let’s add a couple of hundred for association dues and a bit over $200 for taxes and he’s paying $2,100+ a month. Yikes, a thousand a month plus whatever he put down?? Why does this have “short sale” written all over it in a year or two?
Maybe he knows something that I don’t? Like there will be an amazing real estate turnaround and prices will go up astronomically again? I don’t think so. I absolutely cannot fathom how somebody could buy that property with these numbers. I can’t. And I’m pretty good in math.
Maybe if some others of you have a CD coming due and you don’t know what to do with your money, contact me. I’m sure I can get you a better return than this. (Disclaimer: this is sarcasm, I’m not a financial advisor but heck send me your check anyway, or blow it on a “great rental property” like this.)
Thinking like this is what got people in trouble.

Piss off your neighbors- Follow up

A while ago I posted on this place, titled how to piss off your neighbors.
This property on Milos drive:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/18862-Milos-Dr-92648/home/3835443
Since coming out with a price that was $70,000 lower than your neighbors there’s been a few twists to this property. After starting out with a price of $530,000 they dropped it quickly to $498,000 a little over a week later. At first I said Wow..They really want to sell. Two days later they dropped it to $459,000 and I began to wonder. Was this done to get multiple bidding going? Now they are approaching 2003 prices on this.
Just to keep it up on people’s mailings and radar they dropped it again $1,000 to $458,000.
So what gives? Under the notes that the realtor sees the listing agent wants to have it close by Aug. 19th. Ok, what planet do you live on that you can get banks, inspections, and what not coordinated to get it all done in less than two weeks? Even with an all cash buyer it would be difficult at best.
My guess is that the NOD, oh did I fail to mention that? Let me back up then. This guy has received a NOD. How the heck do you get a NOD when you have that much equity built into it unless you’re an idiot?
If this were Jeopardy it would go like this:
I’ll take new cars for $50k Alex
I’ll take European Vacations for another $10G Alex
I’ll take shopping spree for another $25k Alex. And so on.
My guess is they tapped out the equity like so many others now they can’t pay the piper.

And since you’re going to default anyway you might as well rent it out to someone and see if you can get some rent money while you’re at it. That’s right, for the past 6 months they have been pulling in the rent money. Now the tenants are getting the boot and these characters have only a blemish on their credit report.

The listing agent, (we believe them don’t we?), says that the list price covers the back payments, interest and everything they owe so there isn’t any additional costs. Sure, if you say so.
Someone might jump on this one but I hope they are careful. Otherwise back to the bank you go.

Knucklehead of the Week! Aug 5

Nothing says I want to alienate any possible woman from buying your place by putting a urinal in your condo...way to go LB! No wonder it's been listed for over half a year.

From Greed to Entitlement?

I posted earlier about this property on 7305 Arcadia Dr. in the Bel-Air tract of HB. This is a group of 102 houses all built and sold around 2005-06 and all upside down now. After unsuccessfully trying to contact this listing agent I called a realtor friend of mine. This husband/wife team in LB I’ve known for over 20 years and their good ethics is why they are probably able to work in this market. I also asked her to check on another property in this same section.
Anyway, she wrote me back the following:
After we spoke yesterday, I pulled up both of those listings. I called both agents and only the one Asian Lady Lillian got back with me regarding Arcadia Drive. It is a newly listed short sale, and she priced it at "Value Range Marketing" from $639,999.-$779,999. She said she did this for marketing reasons and now has two offers around $700k. She said you would have to come in at or above that price for the bank to look at you. There is no lockbox, and the owners only want people to drive by only- they don't want to be disturbed. The other Roxbury Lane in the Bel Air complex is a short sale also. The agent has a voice mailbox that is full and not accepting any messages, and the office number I've left 2 messages at with no response. As you can see from the PRIVATE COMMENTS FOR BROKERS ONLY at the bottom of the MLS I sent you, it seems that they have reduced to a bank-approved price of $799000. No lockbox, and no answer for showing either... I'd say that both of these are a waste of time for you..... Keep searching though.

I thought the “listing price” price was 639k since Redfin had it as that and not the “value range marketing”. All I have to say after that is “Are you kidding me”? Who sets a “value range marketing” spread of $140K?
Secondly, no lockbox?? And the owners don’t want to be disturbed? WTF?? Are these people putting in an offer without even seeing the place? In addition I checked it out on the OC assessor’s site and found they still owe over $12,400 on taxes. Who’s going to cough that one up? Throw in the homeowner’s dues that they probably are behind on and you see this baby starts to add up.
Still assuming they got a couple of offers and these people didn’t see the place it just perplexes me. The place could be totally trashed inside. Would you buy a car without test driving it? Of course not! Then why are there people that would do this with a house? Seems like plenty of stupidity out there to go around still.


The other property is just as bad as it’s been listed over 150 days and they don’t want to show it? And their “bank-approval” price is way over priced.
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Huntington-Beach/18756-Roxbury-Ln-92648/home/5955330
Love the last line of the description “must see to appreciate” Oh yeah..well how about a freaking lockbox and show the place!!

I’m not sure if we are seeing the start of a disturbing trend or these are just isolated incidents. What we have it seems is owners, (if you can really call them that), that bought their house with greed and now feeling that they are “entitled” to stay in this house as long as possible. Almost sounds like a scam to me if you can get the bank to accept a price for a short sale and then the bank will wait it out for offers. After all they are swamped in many cases. Then you don’t allow anyone to see the place!

Here is an example from a Redfin forum:
http://forums.redfin.com/rf/board/message?board.id=LA_OC&thread.id=1681
I've seen some similar strange dealings. One 2-story home that has been listed as active on ALL the sites for about 4 months, yet there is now people in it who at least give the appearance of believing this house is theirs. They are doing work on the place, live there, have their vehicles there. If you call the listing agent (it has never had a For Sale sign in front) she comes up with all sorts of creative excuses for why the house can't be toured, even though it's supposedly still available. She went so far as to tell our agent that we wouldn't be interested because the former owner died in it.I had to laugh at that one.On a similar tack, two weeks ago we went to see a short sale near us. Our agent set up the time, we met them there...and were greeted at the door by the owner(s) who acted like they had *no* idea the house was being showed. Turned out that was a lie (our agent immediately called the listing agent who called the owners who begrudgingly let us in abut 3 minutes later). They were contentious and surly the whole time, but I suppose we ought think they actually liked us, as another agent/buyer team showed up right as we were finishing up (with an appointment), and they actually REFUSED them entrance. Turned 'em away. Sent 'em packing.We made an offer that was at the high end of the neighborhood comps, yet fell about 75k under asking. I expect a refusal from the bank, but who knows. Nice place, nasty owners. No wonder ours was the only offer on the place that has been made in over a month.

Are we seeing greed changing now to “entitlement”? Feel free to comment and tell me if you’ve had similar experiences.